Oklahoma Takes To The Road

Feb. 21, 2001

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#6/#6 Oklahoma Sooners (17-5-1)
at #12/#14 Michigan State Spartans (8-7)
Friday, Feb. 23 - 7:30 p.m. - East Lansing, Mich.

THE SOONERS
Oklahoma enters Friday's dual against No. ?? Michigan State with a 17-5-1 record after falling to second-ranked Oklahoma State, 24-12, on Sunday. OU will still be without the services of 125 pounder Bo Maynes who is still recovering from an injury (dislocated rib cartiledge) he suffered at the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals. Matt Ridings, who has won 14-consecutive matches, will continue to fill his spot in the lineup. Brian Burrows (157) is expected to return to action after missing the last four duals. Burrows last action was an 8-5 loss to Iowa State's Cole Sanderson on Feb. 2. Sooner grapplers are currently ranked nationally by either Amateur Wrestling News or InterMat.

LAST TIME
OU fell to second-ranked Oklahoma State, 24-12, in front of 10,802 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. The attendance of 10,802 set a Bedlam attendance record and is the largest crowd to watch a wrestling dual in the state of Oklahoma. Heavyweight Leonce Crump, Matt Ridings (125), Michael Lightner (141) and Robbie Waller (165) all won for the Sooners.

MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans have won three straight matches to bring an 8-7 record into their season finale. Pat McNamara, MSU's highest ranked wrestler, is listed at fourth by both AWN and InterMat and has a record of 26-5. In last year's dual between OU and Michigan State, McNamara was upset by Witt Durden, 3-2. Other ranked wrestlers for MSU include Chris Williams (#14/#12 at 125), Mike Castillo (#16/#14 at 141), Karl Nadolsky (#14/#17 at 149) and Nik Fekete (#9/#12 at 197).

LIGHTNER AIMS FOR CAREER-WIN RECORD
Senior 141-pounder Michael Lightner will be aiming for several Sooner records this season, including the career victory mark. His 136 career wins ranks second all-time in OU history. The school record holder in single-season victories (42 in 1999), Lightner would need to break his own record to tie Dan Chaid's mark of 150 wins. He will also try to become OU's first four-time conference champion, the first four-time Big 12 champion and Oklahoma's first four-time All-American since John Kading (1994-1997). Lightner has won 23 of his 29 matches (79.3 percent) by bonus this season. He has been ranked second by every wrestling poll all season.

FRAYER ON FIRE
With 19 pins on the season, fifth-ranked Jared Frayer has now moved into sixth in career falls at OU with 34. The 19 pins are a career high and is the second most pins by an OU grappler in a single-season. He trails only Dan Chaid (24) in single-season pins. Frayer has beaten three opponents ranked in the top 10 and won career-high 32 matches. He has won 78.1 percent of his matches by bonus. Frayer leads the Big 12 in pins. He is currently ranked as high as fifth.

CRUMP OFF TO FAST START
Redshirt-freshman heavyweight Leonce Crump is off to a fast start, beginning his Sooner career with a 26-9 record. The champion of the Oklahoma Open, he is second on the team in pins with 11, the highest total by a heavyweight since Herb Calvert posted 18 in 1976. Crump is currently ranked 11th nationally.

MAYDAY, MAYDAY!
After a slow start at the beginning of the season, senior 197 pounder Waymon May is now one of the hottest wrestlers in the nation. May has won 17 of his last 21 matches, including a 3-2 triumph against top-ranked defending national champion Brad Vering of Nebraska. His four losses during his that span were each by one point. May has also tallied a career-high nine pins. He is currently ranked 10th nationally.

WALLER AMONG NATION'S BEST
Sophomore Robbie Waller, 27-4, is among the best 165 pounders in the nation. He has notched three wins against top 10 ranked wrestlers including upsets of No. 6 Ty Wilcox of OSU and Iowa State's top-ranked Joe Heskett. Thirteen of Waller's wins have come by major decision and another two by technical fall. He is ranked fifth by Amateur Wrestling News and third by InterMat.

RIDING(S) A WINNING STREAK
With starter Bo Maynes out with injury, junior Matt Ridings has been thrust into the lineup at 125 pounds. Ridings has posted a perfect 10-0 dual record and is riding a 14-match winning streak. His last loss came at the Oklahoma Open on Nov. 25. Ridings has also won three straight bouts against ranked opponents. Two of of Ridings four losses this season have been to Maynes. He cracked the rankings for the first time in his career at No. 12 by Amateur Wrestling News. Ridings is now ranked eight by AWN and fifth by InterMat.

NO. 1 GOES DOWN...AGAIN
When 197 pounder Waymon May upset top-ranked Brad Vering, 3-2, in the Nebraska dual, it marked the third time this season that a Sooner has knocked off a No. 1 ranked wrestler. Michael Barger began the run for the Sooners when he pinned the No. 1 at 174 pounds, Otto Olson of Michigan. It was Olson's first loss of the season. Less than two weeks later Robbie Waller (165) downed Iowa State's Joe Heskett, the nation's top-ranked wrestler by Amateur Wrestling News.

BARGER FEATURED IN FACES IN THE CROWD
OU 174 pounder Michael Barger was recently featured in the Faces in the Crowd feature in Sports Illustrated. The junior won the honor after pinning top-ranked Otto Olson of Michigan at the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals. He also earned Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors earlier this season.

THREE SOONERS WIN BIG 12 WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Three Sooner wrestlers - Michael Lightner (141), Michael Barger (174) and Waymon May (197) - have won Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors this season.

KJELDGAARD, WORTHY OUT FOR SEASON AT 157
Considered one of OU's deepest weights during fall drills, 157 pounds has been depleted by a rash of early season knee injuries. Three grapplers - senior two-time NCAA qualifier David Kjeldgaard, junior Brian Burrows and redshirt-freshman Mark Worthy - were in a heated three-way battle for the starting nod. Kjeldgaard is currently recovering from knee surgery, his fourth in as many seasons, and is lost for the year. Worthy sported a 5-2 record and was ranked 18th in the country by Amateur Wrestling News before suffering an ACL injury in the Oklahoma State dual. Burrows, a junior transfer from OSU, was held out of drills for much of the early season due to a knee injury but made his season debut against Seton Hall. Redshirt-freshman Tony Moore competed for the Sooners at 157 in the Lone Star Duals, becoming OU's third grappler to start a dual at that weight.

SPATES WINS 100TH DUAL AT OU
Head Coach Jack Spates won his 100th dual at Oklahoma with a 21-16 victory at Fresno State on Jan. 14. Spates' record at OU currently stands at 107-43-5.

SOONER HEAD COACH JACK SPATES
Spates came to the University of Oklahoma from Cornell, where he owned the school's highest winning percentage after compiling an impressive 74-14-1 record over five seasons. Oklahoma finished fourth at the 2000 NCAA Wrestling Championships, its highest finish since 1989. The Sooners also crowned its first national champion since 1996 and two Big 12 Champions. OU tallied a 17-4-1 dual record and climbed as high as third in the polls. This came just one season after Oklahoma won the conference championship for the first time since 1986 and placed sixth at the NCAA Championships. The man who led the Sooners to those feats was head coach Jack Spates, the 1999 Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year. Spates has produced 20 All-Americans while at OU, including four-time All-American and NCAA Champion John Kading at 190 pounds, undefeated NCAA Champion Byron Tucker at 174 pounds and three-time All-Amercian and two-time NCAA runner-up Michael Lightner.

OU'S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACHES
Head coach Jack Spates is among the all-time leaders in career wins and winning percentage by OU coaches. The 1999 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Spates ranks third in both career wins and winning percentage.

KING PINS
With 71 pins already this season, OU wrestlers have already surpassed their total of last season. Several Sooners have either already set career highs for falls or have surpassed last season's total. Leading the pin parade is junior Jared Frayer with a career-high and Big 12 leading 19 pins. He has led OU in pins in each of the last two seasons and ranks sixth in career falls with 34. His 19 pins are the second highest single season total in school history. Heavyweight Leonce Crump has tallied 11 pins in his freshman campaign, the highest total by an OU heavyweight since Herb Calvert posted 18 in 1976. Michael Lightner and Waymon May have also both set career bests for falls with six and nine, respectively. Frayer (51.4 percent) would currently place in the 12th in single-season fall percentage.

WELDON, JONES PROMOTED TO TOP ASSISTANTS
OU assistant coaches Barry Weldon and Rodney Jones have been promoted to head assistant coach and second assistant coach, respectively. After former assistant coach Chuck Barbee left to become the head coach at Army, head coach Jack Spated conducted a national search before promoting Weldon and Jones. Derek DelPorto will now serve as the Sooners' volunteer assistant.

LIGHTNER SELECTED FOR ALL-STAR DUAL
OU senior 141-pounder Michael Lightner has been selected to compete in the NWCA All-Star Dual at Franklin and Marshall University. The nation's second-ranked wrestler at 141, Lightner did not participate in the competition due to injury.

SOONER BONUS
OU coaches stress the importance of winning matches by bonus points and this season Sooner wrestlers have clamed 73 matches by major decision or better.

OU ON THE INTERNET
Sooner wrestling will broadcast selected home and road duals on the official OU athletic website, soonersports.com. The action will be called by veteran radio personality James Hale with analyst Dr. Ron Tripp. Dual broadcasts can be accessed on the site's front page. Audio with Sooner head coach Jack Spates and selected OU wrestlers will also be available weekly by accessing the audio/video page of the website.

UP NEXT
OU will compete in the Big 12 Wrestling Championships on March 2-3. The championships will begin Friday March 2 at 6 p.m. with the semifinals following at 7 p.m. Competition will get underway on March 3 at 10 a.m. with consolation pigtails and consolation semifinals at 11 a.m. Any fourth-place challenge matches will take place at noon as well as the wildcard meeting. Finals begin at 2 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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